


Any Joy it Would Bring

by ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Because I can, F/M, M/M, Second Citadel (Penumbra Podcast), Soft and good, embarrassing the lizzer, it's fluff!!, pure fluff!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 08:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20597645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand/pseuds/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand
Summary: Rilla is conspiring. Scheming. Plotting. He knows it.





	Any Joy it Would Bring

**Author's Note:**

> written for @jakkubrat on tumblr for the prompt "Come here." "Why?" "Just come here."  
title from To Noise Making (Sing) by Hozier

Rilla is conspiring. Scheming. Plotting. He knows it. Every nerve is set on edge watching her whisper and giggle into Damien’s ear, watching Damien listen with an expression of horror that barely disguises his shared amusement at Arum's expense. 

She whispers something that makes Damien gasp and then look up at him, mouth agape. Rilla looks up, too, and, seeing him watching them, calls “Arum! Come here for a second!”

Arum shakes his head and narrows his eyes, “And why, Amaryllis, would I do that?”

She crosses her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes at him, “Just come here!” 

He growls and sidles over to where they’re standing, but maintains about three feet of distance between them that she immediately breaches, stepping into his space with a smirk and a twinkle in her eye that makes him flinch. Amaryllis is fascinated with him, and her little “experiments” every time she discovers a new facet of his biology almost always result in his utter humiliation and embarrassment. He has no idea what she’s about to do to him, but he knows he’s  _ not _ going to like it. 

She grins at him and says, “Ok, close your eyes.” 

He blanches. “I -  _ absolutely not, Amaryllis _ .”

A look of mock offense and hurt, “What?! Don’t you trust me?”

He narrows his eyes and crosses his arms, “I do  _ not _ . And you know perfectly well why.” 

The last time she’d done this, much to his horror, she had been testing a theory that he was  _ ticklish _ , and that had ended with several broken jars of salve and him perched on the top of her cabinet, hissing and spitting like a hatchling.  _ Mortifying. _

“Oh, come on, you’re not going to die. You know I wouldn’t ever hurt you, right?” She looks at him pointedly. 

“Yes, Amaryllis. I know I will come to no lasting harm. However, you seem to take no issue with humiliating me,” he returns her pointed stare with a glare of his own. 

“Alright, that’s fair. But I’m not being mean, I’m just curious. And, anyway, I think you’ll like this experiment. Trust me?” He knows he could push the issue. If he  _ truly _ didn’t want her to do this she wouldn’t. She’ll allowed him at least that much dignity. The problem is that, even though every bone in his body is  _ screaming _ at him to run away from whatever is about to happen, every muscle tensed for a fight that won’t happen, he  _ does trust her _ . Against every odd, he trusts these two humans with his life. He knows he’s safe with them. 

And if that means he gets a little embarrassed for their amusement every once in a while, he can handle that, because that’s safe, too. He knows that their laughter is never mocking, never judgmental. So, he uncrosses his arms and closes his eyes. He can hear Rilla’s pleased huff and the sound of cloth shifting as she steps towards him. He tries not to flinch as he feels her fingers feather-light on his cheeks and then the soft press of lips against his snout. He relaxes into her touch and his chest rumbles in happiness and relief. 

Then Amaryllis is giggling and pulling away from him. His eyes snap open and he looks to her, “What? What have you done to me? Amaryllis, stop  _ giggling _ what did you  _ do? _ ”

She looks at Damien, who is beaming, and says, “See! I told you he purrs.” 

“I -  _ what? _ ” He growls. “Amaryllis, I do not purr, I am not a  _ housecat _ .” 

“Oh, you definitely do,” Amaryllis says.

Damien nods a confirmation beside her, looking a little sheepish. “I’m afraid you do, my lily. You just did when she approached you just then.”

Amaryllis steps toward him again, and he shies away. “Arum, here, come back. I just want to show you.” 

He hesitates, giving her the opportunity to grab his arm and pull him back towards her. “Close your eyes again.”

A grumbling noise rattles out of his throat, but he obeys. When her fingers brush over his cheeks, stroking between his eyes and over his frill, he hums in pleasure again, and suddenly his eyes snap open in shock and he wrenches out of her grasp. “Stop that at - at  _ once!” _

“Are you talking to me or yourself?” Amaryllis asks, quirking an eyebrow. 

He only growls in response. 

Damien steps forward, then, and takes his hand. “It is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about, my love. It makes me… very happy to know that we can bring you comfort and joy. To know that you feel safe around us, that you enjoy our company.”

Arum knows he’s right. Knows they aren’t judging him for this, even as he cringes and gets ruffled up about it. And the poet is looking at him so sweetly, so earnestly, and he can feel that warmth bubbling up in his chest again. So, he pulls them the poet into an embrace, holding him close to his chest, and then uses his spare arms to pull in Amaryllis as well. He nuzzles into their hair and holds them close so they can feel and hear him purr all the love he has for them. 

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me on tumblr @shorter-than-her-tbr-pile

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Any Joy It Would Bring](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20939102) by [AetherAria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AetherAria/pseuds/AetherAria)


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